ULM head coach Todd Berry said there was no animosity in his quarterback room after he named senior transfer Pete Thomas the No. 1 quarterback in the coach's first depth chart release since the start of fall camp. However, there was disappointment from older quarterbacks like juniors Brayle Brown and Chazz Carrington and the head coach said there was a difference.

"If you're a competitor, you're surely going to get disappointed in the release of the first depth chart," Berry said."Now, it's how you respond, and that's the key component."

Berry added that Thomas earned the No. 1 spot with a little more than two weeks until the season opener against Wake Forest because of his low turnover numbers, along with how he handles himself on the field.

"He's very poised, and I think that shows significant maturity," Berry said. "He's adapted well to the team, and they've really taken him in and so for those reasons, and he's been very consistent in practice."

Thomas signed with ULM in May and quickly came to Monroe to work out with the team. Brown was named the starting quarterback coming out of the spring and consequentially entering fall camp two weeks ago. Both quarterbacks took snaps with the first team offense and continued to do so through Saturday's scrimmage.

"(Thomas) is everything I hoped that he would be in terms of coming in and being competitive and being bright, but also when you bring in a transfer quarterback, there's a lot of guys that are competitive but you're looking for the right fit," Berry said. "I like this football team in terms of the chemistry and bringing a guy in at that position can mess up your chemistry at some times, and so I was very picky about if we were going to take a transfer and which direction we would go with that."

Thomas had the only two touchdown passes in Saturday's scrimmage with the first one coming with the second-team offense during the second series of the night. The later touchdown was on the first play of a series with the first team when he connected with junior receiver Rashon Ceaser for a 60-yard touchdown.

"He's shown a willingness to be tough, and obviously all the quarterbacks have been live," Berry said. "I think that's important for them now just in relation to showing the team they're tough guys, but just in the training of quarterback. The quarterback needs to understand how to move in the pocket, and whenever they know they're not going to get hit they tend to not move as much.

"He's shown willingness to run when it's time to run, so I'm really, really pleased and so we'll move forward."

ULM's season opener is Aug. 28 at home against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons announced Monday that they would start true freshman John Wolford, a 6-1, 205-pound athlete from Jacksonville, Florida.

Wolford signed with Wake Forest after backing out of a previous commitment to East Carolina and then picked the Demon Deacons over offers from Missisippi State and Penn State.

The quarterback is highly regarded in the state of Florida after breaking Tim Tebow's high school records for touchdowns, career passing yards and all-purpose touchdowns.